Kankokujin (韓国人)
So here's another update (since I find myself with some time). This one has to do with my class make-up and some friends I've made while being here.
So, they take all the incoming American students (which are no more than say 30) and split them up amongst several classes here. They don't tell you that there are some 700 students at the school, and the minority is Americans (though many Americans tend to stay here for more than one semester, so there are maybe 50 of us here now). Then, when they make up the classes, there are no more than three Americans per class. There are several Chinese people in the class, and over half of each class is South Korean (Kankokujin / 韓国人). This adds an element of fun because if you're not in a Language Level 1 class (I'm in Level 2), the teachers don't speak English, and neither do a majority of students in the class. I don't speak Chinese or Korean either, so if I ever have to speak with any of my classmates (aside from Lisa, the only other American in my class), then I have to use Japanese. That is actually kind of cool. The other thing is that the teachers rotate, so I have the same teacher only twice a week.
So, anyway, I've made several friends in my classes so far. We actually went out to eat for Korean food after Undokai (運動会) with most of my class, and our teacher that day, Miyashita-sensei. However, the week after, one of the Koreans whom I've gotten to know pretty well asked me to go to dinner with his friends the following week. (For those who are counting, this was Thursday of last week.) So, before I knew it, it was me, Lisa, Jin-fun-san (M, Korean, pronounced jin-foon), Uni-san (F, Korean), and Kensei-san (F, Chinese) all out to dinner again. (Note: I don't know how to spell their names in American letters; this is my guess from katakana.)
When we went out after Undokai, we apparently went to the place where Uni-san has her part-time job, so last week we went to Jin-fun-san's part time job, which was basically a pork place. You get lots of pork cuts (that are shaped like bacon, only thicker) and each table has a mini grill, where those cuts are cooked. Then, as they are cooked, you cut them with scissors so they are bite-sized (and in Asia, bite-size is much larger than bite-size in America). Anyway, the idea is that you take a lettuce leaf, then you take your piece of pork, dip it in a peanut sauce, put it on the lettuce leaf, add rice, add crazy Korean spicy things, wrap it all up in the lettuce leaf and stick it in your mouth whole. No, you are not allowed to take bites. You have to take it whole. Yeah. It was fun though. Everyone knows I like pork. I just have to get used to spices.
So, the reason I decided to comment on this is because the five of us are going out again tonight, though not to the same place, though probably still in Shin-Okubo (Tokyo's Korea-town). The other thing is that next Thursday is Uni-san's birthday, so I'm not sure what sort of craziness will ensue after that.
(For anyone who got confused with the names, I have pictures of all of us that are going to be uploaded once I get around to it. Maybe this weekend sometime. It will be a lot easier to upload pictures after January, since I'll be moving to a dorm with some kind of internet. However, if I wait til then, I may have some thousand to upload. I'm already behind some two hundred pictures... I figure that it's better to try to stay up-to-date here though.)
So, they take all the incoming American students (which are no more than say 30) and split them up amongst several classes here. They don't tell you that there are some 700 students at the school, and the minority is Americans (though many Americans tend to stay here for more than one semester, so there are maybe 50 of us here now). Then, when they make up the classes, there are no more than three Americans per class. There are several Chinese people in the class, and over half of each class is South Korean (Kankokujin / 韓国人). This adds an element of fun because if you're not in a Language Level 1 class (I'm in Level 2), the teachers don't speak English, and neither do a majority of students in the class. I don't speak Chinese or Korean either, so if I ever have to speak with any of my classmates (aside from Lisa, the only other American in my class), then I have to use Japanese. That is actually kind of cool. The other thing is that the teachers rotate, so I have the same teacher only twice a week.
So, anyway, I've made several friends in my classes so far. We actually went out to eat for Korean food after Undokai (運動会) with most of my class, and our teacher that day, Miyashita-sensei. However, the week after, one of the Koreans whom I've gotten to know pretty well asked me to go to dinner with his friends the following week. (For those who are counting, this was Thursday of last week.) So, before I knew it, it was me, Lisa, Jin-fun-san (M, Korean, pronounced jin-foon), Uni-san (F, Korean), and Kensei-san (F, Chinese) all out to dinner again. (Note: I don't know how to spell their names in American letters; this is my guess from katakana.)
When we went out after Undokai, we apparently went to the place where Uni-san has her part-time job, so last week we went to Jin-fun-san's part time job, which was basically a pork place. You get lots of pork cuts (that are shaped like bacon, only thicker) and each table has a mini grill, where those cuts are cooked. Then, as they are cooked, you cut them with scissors so they are bite-sized (and in Asia, bite-size is much larger than bite-size in America). Anyway, the idea is that you take a lettuce leaf, then you take your piece of pork, dip it in a peanut sauce, put it on the lettuce leaf, add rice, add crazy Korean spicy things, wrap it all up in the lettuce leaf and stick it in your mouth whole. No, you are not allowed to take bites. You have to take it whole. Yeah. It was fun though. Everyone knows I like pork. I just have to get used to spices.
So, the reason I decided to comment on this is because the five of us are going out again tonight, though not to the same place, though probably still in Shin-Okubo (Tokyo's Korea-town). The other thing is that next Thursday is Uni-san's birthday, so I'm not sure what sort of craziness will ensue after that.
(For anyone who got confused with the names, I have pictures of all of us that are going to be uploaded once I get around to it. Maybe this weekend sometime. It will be a lot easier to upload pictures after January, since I'll be moving to a dorm with some kind of internet. However, if I wait til then, I may have some thousand to upload. I'm already behind some two hundred pictures... I figure that it's better to try to stay up-to-date here though.)
posted by Me at 8:46 PM
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